Demonic artifact, or just an old box?

Tuesday

Aug 28, 2012 at 12:00 PMAug 28, 2012 at 12:17 PM

Even Jason Haxton, owner of the Dibbuk Box, isn't sure, but the story is about to hit the big screen.

Jason Hunsicker

Monday, June 16, 2003 was a normal day for Kirksville's Jason Haxton. The director of the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine at A.T. Still University went about his business during the day and at night prepared for Tuesday.

Little did he know the following day would change his life forever, setting off a chain of events that has in some way, shape or form contributed to mysterious health problems, strange occurrences, new relationships, his authoring a book and now his trip to Hollywood, Calif., where he will walk the red carpet and attend a movie premiere.

It was that Tuesday in 2003 when a young college student worker piped up and told Haxton and other museum staff, "This weekend my roommate bought a haunted box."

"That kind of stopped the conversation," says Haxton, author of "The Dibbuk Box." The book and topic are subject of Wednesday's one-hour episode of Syfy's show "Paranormal Witness," while the Hollywood adaptation, "The Possession," starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick, and produced by Sam Raimi (director of Spider-Man), opens Friday.

The haunted box is, of course, the Dibbuk Box, which may be a demonic artifact housing a spirit that has caused a stroke and other serious health complications, in addition to general havoc for anyone who has come in contact with or dared to take the dreaded item home.

Or, it may just be a box. Haxton, the man who literally wrote the book on the subject, can't say for certain.

"Even to this day, I'm not really sure what a Dibbuk Box is," he said. "I'm unclear about what really happened."

Haxton's book, published by the Truman State University Press in 2011, is the chronological retelling of his experiences with the box, from first learning of its existence, to purchasing it, to the strange health issues that suddenly afflicted him, to his quest for knowledge, discoveries of strange box-related puzzles across the country and, finally, to his construction of a box to contain whatever scientific or spiritual powers may have been at work.

The story details his efforts to trace the artifact's history, confirm or debunk its magic mysteries, and includes details that support both theories that it is something evil, or just an innocent bystander during difficult times.

Take Haxton's first experiences: an otherwise healthy man, he was suddenly stricken by bizarre and scientifically unexplainable medical problems immediately after possessing the item. He broke out red welts from head to toe that would vanish and then return. He found himself choking constantly, struggling even to swallow his own saliva.

After containing the box and performing a cleansing ritual, Haxton coughed up what he described as two handfuls of a slime-like substance. That was five years ago, and with the Dibbuk Box contained he hasn't had a problem since.

"It could have been a health issue," Haxton admits. "I don't know what it is. It's never happened before and never happened again."

For Hollywood's purposes, the idea the box could be something paranormal and its cult Internet following was more than enough to push ahead with a film. Haxton said to his knowledge the project has taken eight years and gone through three scripts before the thriller that hits movie screens Friday went into production.

Haxton was contacted occasionally throughout the process by writers, stars of the film, even Raimi himself, and now is prepared for what he considers the final chapter in his experiences with the artifact: a week with Syfy's docudrama, the red-carpet movie premiere and subsequent worldwide release.

He'll barely have time to enjoy it - the morning after the premiere he's flying to England to give a presentation at the Museum of Osteopathic Business.

"Back to work," Haxton said, and that's fine with him. Writing the book, he says, was his way of "pulling it together, wrapping it up and it's done."

"I don't want this story to become me," Haxton said.

He may not have a choice, at least for a short while. Nancy Rediger, director/editor-in-chief of the Truman State University Press, said the book has sold several thousand copies, including nearly 1,000 digital copies in July and August alone.

"I imagine once the movie comes out, and the Syfy program, I imagine that number is going to continue to grow," she said. "The fact people can just go to their favorite e-reader store and do an impulse buy, I think that increases the sales as well because it's easily available."

Haxton has a personal goal of 20,000 copies. At 50,000 it would qualify as a best-seller.

And after the hype subsides, he'll be left with one dilemma: "What do you do with a Dibbuk Box?"

"The people who want to take it scare me," Haxton said. "The people I do respect don't want to have anything to do with it."

One thing, however, is certain, Haxton says. This is his first and final foray into paranormal objects and investigations.

"I think one in a lifetime is enough," he said. "I'm done."

Meeting the box:

In print "The Dibbuk Box" is a book by Jason Haxton, published by the Truman State University Press in 2011. It is a retelling of Haxton's experiences and investigation into the box.

On TV The Syfy series "Paranormal Witness" will air an hour-long episode dedicated to the Dibbuk Box Wednesday at 9 p.m.